The accepted method of securing a test drive had always been by developing a direct marketing (DM) and telemarketing (TM) campaign and targeting using competitor vehicle data purchased from LTNZ. But with LTNZ data soon becoming unavailable for purchase, an alternative approach was needed.

By tapping into target audience insights and sweet-talking a few restaurants, a bespoke direct response media channel was developed.

The X1 is a sports utility vehicle with the proposition, “Joy is Unplanned”, so people with an appetite for spontaneity were the target - those who would really appreciate the ability to go from city to country to beach to snow on the spur of the moment.

Three top Auckland restaurants, regularly frequented by drivers of competitor vehicles, were convinced to add a mystery dessert to their specials menu for one week. It was called simply “The X1” and featured no description or price. Waiters were briefed not to divulge anything about the dish, but to encourage diners to be spontaneous.

At the conclusion of the meal, people who ordered the dessert were told that the cost of the dessert would be covered thanks to the new BMW X1 and invited to fill in a response card to request a test drive or more information.

It worked. This campaign proved to be 95% more cost efficient than a traditional DM/TM campaign, generating 125 leads at a cost per lead of $54.69, compared to the benchmark of $1003 for previous campaigns. 84 people explicitly stated that they wanted a test drive – 12 times the target of 7 genuine test drives. At usual conversion rates of test drives to sales, these leads represent $840,000 worth of cars sold.